J.T. Brown was expected to have a spot on the Tampa Bay Lightning's roster this season. But after the forward, playing for AHL Syracuse during the NHL lockout, sustained a fractured collarbone on Friday, he will not be ready if the NHL gets going, as many believe it will, in mid January.

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Anders Lindback had the stitches in his cut right knee removed on Friday and said he plans to be back on the ice "in a couple of days."

Lindback, though, will be working out on his own as his contract with Finland's Ilves Tampere has expired. Before making a decision on resuming play he will wait to see how things go with negotiations between the NHL and its players on a new colective bargaining agreement.

The NHL appeared to make a significant move in an attempt to break the deadlocked negotiations with its players on a new collective bargaining agreement and delivered a new proposal Thursday afternoon.

There was a time, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier said, that he believed the labor strife between the players and league would be settled quickly. So, when the NHL on Thursday (the 96th day of the lockout) canceled games through Jan. 14, Lecavalier said it was a jolt, especially with the notion the season is believed one step away from being lost.

"From where we were in September, when I was all optimistic thinking this was going to be resolved quickly, to where we are now, we're all, I don't want to say shocked, but disappointed," Lecavalier said Friday at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon. "It's mind-boggling, I guess."

The NHL on Thursday canceled games through Jan. 14. In all, 625 games (50.8 percent) of the season has been lost because of the lockout which is in its 96th day. Games through Dec. 30 were previously canceled, as was the Jan. 1 Winter Classic and Jan. 27 All-Star Game.

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Anders Lindback -- playing for the Finnish team Ilves Tampere during the lockout -- was injured Tuesday during a morning workout when he took a puck off a knee, opening a cut that Lindback's agent Mike Deutsch said required "a few stitches."

Lindback is expected out about 10 days, Deutsch said, and added "there is no structural damage."

With the NHL lockout in its 89th day, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltenders coach Frantz Jean has been working weekly with Dustin Tokarski and Riku Helenius of the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. Both are in important seasons. Tokarski's contract expires at the end of the season, and Helenius, a 2006 first-round draft choice by Tampa Bay, is re-acclimating to the North American game after two-plus seasons in Europe.

So far, Jean said he likes what he sees, despite both players with stats that could use some polishing.

Marty St. Louis said he was asked by the Players' Association to take part in Wednesday's negotiating session with the league on a new collective bargaining agreement. But the Tampa Bay Lightning star said he is better off right now on the sidelines waiting to hear what comes of the talks.

Shortened NHL season?If the NHL manages to reach a new labor agreement, it could play a 48-game season similar to that after the '94-'95 lockout. Would such a season seem legitimate to you?YesNo, cancel the whole seasonFull Story

Teddy Purcell on Monday was blunt in his assessment of negotiations between the league and Players' Association on a new collective bargaining agreement, calling the situation "hopeless." If things don't change by Christmas, he said he expects to be playing in Europe not long after Christmas.

In what comes as no surprise after the NHL on Thursday broke off negotiations with the Players' Association on a new collective bargaining agreement, the league canceled games through Dec. 30. Games previously were canceled through Dec. 14. The Jan. 1 Winter Classic and Jan. 27 All-Star Game also have been canceled.